ACHT BRÜCKEN | Music for Cologne 2024: Subtle Differences

The 2024 “Acht Brücken” Festival for Contemporary Music is dedicated to “Microtonalities” – a phenomenon embedded in numerous music traditions around the world. Basically, it recognises that musical scales are not limited to twelve tones, as is usually the case in European classical music, but are rather comprised of many tones in between. Modern composers, influenced by the Western European „New Music” genre, have made use of this expanded range of musical notes, e.g. the German composer Enno Poppe, to whom this festival edition is dedicated. The festival will stage a dialogue between Poppe’s music and musical traditions and innovations from India, Korea, Turkey and Italy, and show how their various influences are inscribed in New Music. 

An important source of inspiration for Poppe has been Sinawi music, which is traditionally improvised and originally accompanied shamanistic rites in ancient Korea. Under the artistic direction of the composer, piri player and percussionist Won II, the Sinawi Ensemble will bring this music tradition to Cologne. In the world premiere of “Palimpsest”, the bağlama virtuoso, singer and composer Kemal Dinç shall explore the overlap of Turkish-Ottoman music tradition and ancient and modern Western influences. In addition to internationally acclaimed soloists, the festival will also include a Turkish-Alevi and German amateur ensemble as a chorus and orchestra. The Cologne-based ensemble Musikfabrik will team up with the Swaralayaamaaya trio from Bangalore. Together they will perform an evening concert of “Mahabharata” by the Italian composer Riccardo Nova, who studied southern Indian music and has fostered close contacts with India for decades.

Artistic director: Louwrens Langevoort
Musical director: Kemal Dinç
Ensembles: Ensemble Musikfabrik, Jorik Bergman Bigband, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música / Peter Rundel, conductor, Sinawi Ensemble, Swaralayaamaaya trio and others
Concerts: Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Funkhaus, Trinitatiskirche, St. Ursula, St. Maria im Kapitol, Stadtgarten, storage facility for mobile flood protection elements, and other locations, Cologne: 4–12 May 2024